


In The Embrace Of Fallen Leaves

by ImogenSmiley



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Acceptance, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorder, Anxious Kuroko Tetsuya, Aomine thinks she's a monster, Autumn, Coming Out, Developing Relationship, F/M, GAD, Gotta love some good old fashioned seasonal symbolism, Hurt/Comfort, Kise had crushes on everyone, Kise has been out for a loooong time, Kise is out, Kuroko Tetsuya Has Anxiety, Kuroko comes out, Kuroko is gay and Kagami is bi, M/M, Maji Burger, Momoi dunks her fries in milkshake, New Relationship, Post-Winter Cup, Supportive Aomine Daiki, Supportive Momoi Satsuki, coming out to friends, meeting up, pansexual kise, supportive friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 22:54:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21126599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImogenSmiley/pseuds/ImogenSmiley
Summary: Kuroko finally comes out to two of his oldest and dearest friends. Momoi wants to hold onto her composure, even with her heart in pieces. Aomine does his best to pick them up.





	In The Embrace Of Fallen Leaves

Orange leaves drop from the branches above him like tears. Sat on a wall on the grounds of Touou High School was Aomine Daiki, scrolling through the music on his phone, blaring it through headphones he’d draped around his neck. He was waiting for his best friend, who was just finishing up clean-up-duty in her classroom.

“Seriously, she’s taking her sweet time,” he muttered, checking the time. He rolled his eyes, turning the volume up on his music, nodding his head to the heavy bass, hooded eyes closing as he focused on the music.

Another song came and went before he heard her fruity voice shout out an apology.

He looked up and spotted Satsuki rushing over, one hand drawn toward her chest while she skittered toward him, her hair billowing behind her. He smiled at her, “You ready to go?”

She nodded, “I haven’t seen Kagamin and Tetsu-kun in ages!”

Aomine grinned. The pair walked down the warmly coloured streets of Tokyo toward the shuttle bus stop. Once they’d board, it would take them twenty minutes to get to where they’d decided to meet.

For the first time since middle school, it wasn’t Satsuki that had arranged the meet-up and that had Aomine nervous. Tetsu rarely went out of his way to speak to his friends in public, he wasn’t even the biggest conversationalis over text, and especially not through phone calls. Over the years, they’d learned that Tetsu would reach out to his friends on his own terms, after all, his anxiety was something he needed to manage on his own. Forcing the blue haired ghost of a boy out of his comfort zone was never ideal; he tended to retract further into his shell.

Being friends with an introverted anxious person like Tetsu wasn’t always the easiest thing, but what Aomine and Momoi tended to do was always, always, always let him know he was invited. Sometimes, he would refuse, or come up with an excuse as to why he couldn’t attend whatever social occasion had arisen. Tetsu tended to be better at impromptu social endeavours post-practice. Or, at least, that was the case during middle school.

Kuroko had eased his way out of the Generation Of Miracles’ lives over a year ago, but he and Aomine had seen one another since. They’d faced one another on the court several times since their graduation from middle school, and rekindled their friendship, something Aomine was very grateful for.

One thing he, and his best friend Satsuki had realised upon Kuroko’s joining of Serin High School was that he had grown much more confident, and the increased ego suited him. He was no longer depending on his lack of presence in order to avoid detection, bullying or social expectations. No, he was utilising his skills on the court and foregoing them amongst his teammates. He, and Team Serin were comfortable enough that Kuroko felt no need to hide from them.

They’d wondered what had changed in him for a while, neither wanting to bring it up. Satsuki had supposedly broken up with him after the Winter Cup. He never asked her why, she’d just claimed that managing long-distance was hard, but she still seemed ever-devoted to her affection toward Tetsu. After all, he was her first love. Aomine reckoned that she would never fully get over it.

He always wondered what it was though, that pushed her to break up their supposed relationship.

Kuroko and Kagami were waiting at the spot Kuroko had specified: a Maji Burger, but not the one nearest to Serin. It was actually nearer to Kaijo than Serin, something which piqued Satsuki’s interest as she exited the shuttle bus with Aomine.

As they got off, she spotted several teens in the same uniform she’d seen Ki-chan wear after hours, and some girls in the uniform their manager Ryoko-chan wore during the Kaijo games. She didn’t spot a single girl in the Serin High uniorm, or any boys in their gakurans.

They followed the maps app on Satsuki’s phone and made their way into the Maji Burger. Their friends are lurking at a booth near to the door and immediately visible upon entry. Aomine spotted Kagami all but unhinging his jaw to devour a cheeseburger. He snorted, cursing his rival’s metabolism, but strode toward them regardless.

“Yo, Bakagami,” Aomine greeted, leering over at the redhead, a shit-eating grin crossing his face. He put a hand on the table and bared his teeth just a bit, their friendly rivalry still alive both on and off the court. Beside the redhead sat Kuroko slurping a vanilla milkshake.

Kagami swallowed what remained of his burger and nodded at the navy haired teen, not batting an eye at his entrance, “Aho.”

Suddenly beside him was the bubbly Satsuki, she leaned over, long hair swishing beside her as she smiled over at the boys from their rival school. Her cheeks were dusted in blush as she smiled, magenta eyes closing.

“Hi Kagamin! Hi Testu-kun!” she chimed.

“Hello, Momoi-san, Aomine-kun.” Kuroko said, gesturing that the pair should join them.

Satsuki didn’t hesitate, brushing past her best friend and easing her way down opposite the boys from Serin. She sat before Kuroko, eyeing the suspicious cup with a pink-tinted liquid inside. Quickly turning away from it, hoping she hadn’t misread the situation, she shot a glance at Dai-chan. He hadn’t acknowledged Kuroko’s subtle gesture, and was still exchanging brash banter with Kagami. She hugged, reaching over toward him and tugged on Aomine’s arm, indicating that he ought to sit down.

He obliged.

“Momoi-san, I got you a milkshake,” Kuroko said, passing the suspicious cup over to the pink-haired girl, “Strawberry, your favourite.”

“Aww! Thank you Testu-kun, let me pay you back!” she replied, reaching into her bag to find her coin-purse.

“Don’t worry about it, after all, we insisted you travel all the way to meet us!” Kuroko insisted, voice firm.

She nodded slowly. Aomine grinned, wolfishly.

“Yeah, next time you want to do this you could have at least chosen to meet somewhere slightly more in the middle. It took us an absolute age to get here.”

Kuroko raises a brow, slurping on the remnants of his milkshake, “This branch of Maji Burger is approximately forty minutes away from your school on foot and shuttle bus. It is twenty minutes on the bus from Serin.”

“That’s like sixty to forty though, Tetsu!” Aomine objected, reaching onto Kagami’s tray and snatching one of his cheeseburgers. Before anyone could say anything, he unwrapped the burger and took a bite.

His cheeks burned upon realising those burgers weren’t his. He swallows hard, “Shit, Bakagami, I didn’t even-”

Satsuki’s laughter filled the fast-food restaurant. The shrill sound was contagious, spreading across the table, leaving all four teenagers in hysterics.

“Don’t worry, I’ll suffer!” Kagami wheezed, clutching his sides.

“I’ve missed this,” Kuroko declared, “I hope we can do this more often.”

“We could have done this all the time if you’d gone to Touou, Tetsu-kun,” Momoi objected with a pout, moving the straw in her milkshake around in a circle.

Across from her, Kuroko reached toward Kagami and took his hand, “But then I wouldn’t have been able to meet Kagami-kun.”

Momoi’s eyes widen, her breath hitching.

“I knew it!” Aomine sneered, “I knew it! I knew it!”

“I hope that you two don’t mind that we’re doing this here, but I figured now was as good a place as any. I’m not straight. I’m also in a relationship with Kagami-kun.”

Momoi remained silent, gaze fixed on the two Serin boys’ hands, their entwined fingers. She swallowed hard, picking up her milkshake and drawing the straw to her lips. She had a drink, keeping the straw in her mouth after she’d had a few mouthfuls. She didn’t – no, she couldn’t think of the right words to explain her emotions.

“I hope that this doesn’t impair your perception of me, Aomine-kun, Momoi-san.”

“Are you insane?” Aomine snorted, taking another burger from Kagami. After all, he should have bought more if he’d known that he was coming. Like Kagami, Aomine’s metabolism was through the roof. He needed a lot more energy than his body could just produce. Fast food was a convenient remedy, “Why would I care? Do I care any of your love lives at all? I couldn’t care less about who or what any of the Teiko boys are into. It doesn’t faze me in the slightest.” 

“Now you’re just inviting Kuroko to list off kinks until you make a face,” Kagami sneers, snatching the burger, still wrapped, from Aomine’s hands.

The boys laugh.

Momoi was still silent, straw resting by her pursed lips. She exhaled quietly, “Thank you for telling me, Tetsu-kun. I really appreciate you sharing.”

“Kise-kun insisted it was about time,” Kuroko said, “But Kise-kun is Kise-kun.”

“You’ve got that right,” Aomine laughed, “Kise doesn’t exactly have a knack for subtlety.”

“He’s been out for a while then?” Kagami enquired, raising a brow.

The boys’ conversation drifted to the exploits of their dear friend from Kaijo. Meanwhile, Momoi sat in silence, head slightly bowed, her thoughts racing over how she’d broken off their relationship, how she’d said that she loved him, but something felt wrong. This was it. This had to be it. The thing that had been wrong was that Kuroko didn’t reciprocate: or at least, not anymore. She couldn’t speak for her Teiko days, but the spark she seemed to feel from him was gone. It wasn’t that her heart still ached for him to confess, but there he was, in the middle of a fast food restaurant, declaring his love to a boy.

“I-” she finally spoke, “I am so proud of you Tetsu-kun, and I wish the two of you well.”

“That means so much coming from you, Momoi-san,” Kuroko says, meeting her eyes. His light blue gaze was deep. She didn’t want to break away from it, but knew she was no longer the one who got to divulge in swimming in the secrets behind his iris.

She smiled kindly at the couple. Under the table, Dai-chan’s hand found her own. He squeezed it tightly, rubbing a circle into the top of her hand with his thumb.

The pair from Touou ended up ordering food too, Aomine paid, leaving Satsuki with the boys, but their relationship was no longer on the cards. Instead they were berating one another about the previous basketball season, slandering each other and their supposed lack of skills, until red in the face, laughing at the blatant lies.

She had missed getting to joke with her friends like this. For moments, she would forget that Tetsu-kun was no longer a single boy. She would laugh with him like she did when she first fell in love.

“Here we go Satsuki, double bacon and cheeseburger and a strawberry shake. And then a second small one for you to dunk your fries in. You heathen.”

She’d laughed and quickly reached for his hand on the sofa, when he returned to the table. Her hands were shaking. He held her tightly.

He didn’t let go of her hand for two hours, continuing to hold onto her while the teens joked amongst themselves. The moon was high in the sky and Maji was filling with families. It was dinner time for the nine til five families. They were getting death stares for being crude and hushed by parents who feared their kids would overhear.

“We should probably let you go,” Kuroko declared, having caught yet another stare from a mother with a little boy in a dinosaur t-shirt. He couldn’t have been older than four.

“I agree,” Aomine replied, having caught the stare too.

The group rose from their seats, and exchanged farewells by the automatic doors, with the pairs going in different directions.

Once the new couple were out of sight, Satsuki’s breathing got heavier. Dai-chan took her hand and pulled her closer to him. She was crying.

“Are you okay, Satsuki?”

“I can’t believe it.”

“Really? I thought it was obvious.”

She elbowed him, pawing at her eyes, grateful she hadn’t gone through the effort to cake her face in makeup.

He put an arm around her shoulder, “Its okay if you’re not over him. You two were a THING for a while. Nobody’s going to blame you. But you need to let him be happy.”

“Do you really think I’d stop him!” She objected, voice raising an octave.

He pulled her closer, stopping beneath the orange glow of a streetlight, so her face was against his chest.

“Dai-chan, I feel so awful.”

He took her hand and lead her toward a bench, where crestfallen autumn leaves had laid to rest. He eased her down and joined her. She wept into his shoulder.

“Thank you, Dai-chan,” she hiccuped.

“No problem Satsuki,” he replied, drawing her nearer to him and kissed the top of her head, brushing her hair off her face. She blushed.

“I wanna go home. Let’s go home and watch a movie. I wanna feel better.”

“No problem, Satsuki. Let’s go.”

They didn’t let go of each other’s hands all the way home either.


End file.
